Toronto's second annual Shinsedai Cinema Festival announces line-up of top
Japanese Independent Films being screened from July 22 to 25

Kakera: A Piece of Our Life - directed by the Japanese Sofia Coppola - to open Festival

TORONTO, June 17 /CNW/ - The second Shinsedai Cinema Festival - a four-day celebration of Japanese Indie Films in Toronto from July 22-25 - has finalized its line-up of top Japanese independent films to be screened at the Festival. The Festival will open with the Toronto premiere of Kakera: A Piece of Our Life. Directed by Momoko Ando, dubbed 'the Japanese Sofia Coppola'. Kakera: A Piece of Our Life became the buzz film at London's Raindance Film Festival and the New York Asian Film Festival.

"We are thrilled to open the Shinsedai Cinema Festival with Kakera: A Piece of Our Life," said James Heron, Executive Director of the Festival. "Ando-san's debut feature film is one of the most exciting films to come out of Japan in the past five years and heralds an exciting and original new talent in the world of Japanese film,"

Other notable films screening at the 2010 Shinsedai Cinema Festival include:

    
    -   Friday night's feature film and a silent classic, The Water Magician,
        will include a special live musical accompaniment by Toronto group,
        Vowls.
    -   The North American premiere of A Normal Life, Please! has drawn
        worldwide acclaim including Best Documentary at the 2009 Dubai
        International Film Festival and Best Documentary at the 2009
        Raindance Film Festival in London. Making this film proved quite
        dangerous for director Tokachi Tsuchiya who followed the film's main
        character as he battled his trucking company and some pretty ruthless
        yakuza thugs to achieve fair treatment at his job.
    -   The Festival's closing night film, Yuriko's Aroma, won a special
        mention at the 10th annual Nippon Connection Japanese Film Festival
        in Frankfurt. It was also a personal triumph for its 32-year-old
        director, Kota Yoshida, who suffered an early onset stroke while
        preparing to make the film and had to go through months of
        rehabilitation before finishing it.
    

Some of the filmmakers who will be attending the Festival include: Momoko Ando, Director, Kakera: A Piece of Our Life; Akino Kondoh, Director, Ladybirds' Requiem; Gen Takahashi, Director, Confessions of a Dog; Yasunobu Takahashi, Director, Locked Out; Tokachi Tsuchiya, Director, A Normal Life, Please!.

"The 2010 Shinsedai Cinema Festival will showcase the best in new, up-and-coming, independent Japanese filmmakers that one could only see if they went to Japan," added Chris MaGee, Co-programmer of the Festival. "Toronto Festival-goers are in for a real treat!"

New to the Shinsedai Cinema Festival is the Jishu Eiga Room. Festival-goers can view some of the best in off-center and experimental Japanese indie films that push the boundaries of film. Starting at noon on both Saturday, July 24 and Sunday, July 25, films will be playing continuously. Access to the Jishu Eiga Room is FREE for Deluxe and 5-Film Pass holders, while individual entry for non-pass holders is only $4.00.

Information about tickets sales, films, schedules and other Festival news and activities can be found at http://shinsedai-fest.com/.

For almost 50 years, the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre has been an engine for generating friendship through the exchange of culture and ideas between Canada and Japan. The Shinsedai Film Festival is just one way the JCCC showcases Japanese culture - this time through the eyes of some of its most talented filmmakers. Registered charity No. 118972967RR0001

For further information: Media contact: GoldFenix Communications - Paul Tyler, 905-235-7285, [email protected] or Victoria Ollers, 416-822-2288, [email protected]